Japan GDP, Singapore GDP, South Korea trade

The total value invested in bitcoin surpassed $1 trillion on Wednesday reaching an over two-year high following the debut of bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the United States last month.

The price of ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, surpassed $2,700 to reach its highest level since May 2022, with investors expecting the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to greenlight spot ether ETFs this May.

“We have a global convergence of favorable regulatory activity, and what it’s doing is unblocking an enormous amount of institutional capital,” Paul Brody, global blockchain leader at Ernst & Young, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Thursday.

“There’s $200 trillion of institutional capital that hasn’t been able to access these assets previously, and while these inflows aren’t going to happen overnight, we are going to see a steady allocation of resources into them,” he added.

— Dylan Butts

Indonesia stocks rose after Indonesia’s Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto declared victory in the country’s presidential election after unofficial vote counts showed he held a significant lead over rivals.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index rose as much as 2% to hit its highest level since Jan. 8. The index is currently trading 1.55% higher, led by the gains in the financials and basic materials sectors. The Indonesian rupiah strengthened 0.13%.

That said, some remain cautious about the rally.

“It is premature, if not presumptuous, to project unbridled and sustained euphoria entailing sustained rallies in Indonesian assets and the rupiah,” Mizuho wrote in a daily note, citing the importance for Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance to establish fiscal credibility.

—Lee Ying Shan

Shares of Rakuten Group jumped more than 15% on Thursday after the Japanese technology conglomerate posted a smaller loss for 2023 compared with a year earlier.

Rakuten’s earnings report released late on Wednesday showed an operating loss of 212.86 billion yen for 2023, compared with 371.61 billion yen in 2022.

The company also recorded a smaller attributable loss of 339.47 billion yen, compared with 2022’s 377.21 billion yen.

Profit and revenue for its fintech and internet service business segments rose in 2023, while its mobile segment losses fell by almost 30% in 2023.

— Lim Hui Jie, Shreyashi Sanyal

Japanese semiconductor firm Renesas Electronics said Thursday it would buy Sydney-listed software company Altium in an all-cash deal worth $9.1 billion Australian dollars ($5.89 billion).

Shares of Renesas fell 1.2% in early Tokyo trading, while Altium jumped 28% in Sydney.

Renesas said it would pay AU$68.50 per share, a 33.6% premium to Altium’s Wednesday’s closing price of AU$51.26.

Renesas, which would finance the deal with bank loans and cash on hand, said the acquisition would allow the chipmaker to streamline the process of electronics design for customers as Altium’s main business is making tools to design chip circuit boards.

The Japanese firm noted the deal has been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies and now awaits approvals from Altium shareholders, Australian court and regulators.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Australia’s employment numbers rose by just 500 in January, widely missing Reuters expectations of an increase of 30,000.

The country’s unemployment rate rose to 4.1% from 3.9% in December and was also higher than the 4% expected in the Reuters poll.

Separately, Australia’s labor participation rate held steady at 66.8%.

— Lim Hui Jie

Japan’s…